Medicaid and CHIP

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Medicaid provides medical care for certain poor and low-income people, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides coverage mostly for children in low-income families that do not qualify for Medicaid. CBO’s work on Medicaid and CHIP includes projections of federal spending for the programs (including the effects of the Affordable Care Act), cost estimates for legislative proposals, and analyses of specific aspects of the programs and options for changing them.

Why has Medicare's prescription drug program cost less than anticipated when the program was created? How has competition between plan sponsors affected spending? How do Medicare Part D drug prices compare to those in Medicaid?

If current laws remained generally unchanged, federal debt held by the public would exceed 100 percent of GDP by 2039 and would be on an upward path relative to the size of the economy—a trend that could not be sustained indefinitely.

People eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid benefits—known as “dual-eligible beneficiaries”—are a varied group, but many have extensive health care needs and account for a disproportionate share of spending on Medicare and Medicaid.

During the past 40 years, federal spending for major means-tested programs and tax credits for low-income households more than tripled as a share of gross domestic product. In 2012, such spending totaled $588 billion.